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The Chamber of the Mirrored Eye
“Yes, you ''can beat a man within the inch of his life and consider him punished. Yet there will always be one whose wounds heal, and like the bones that knit together, they will rise up stronger than they ever were before. Then they will spit in your face and defy you once more. For those men, the greatest punishment they can serve is to be locked away with just their own thoughts for company. They will be begging for mercy within the hour.”'' An Extract from ‘Approaches to Effective Correction,’ a Seventh Sibling Operations Manual Purpose The Chamber of the Mirrored Eye is the holding cell of the Serpens Assassin. It is located within The House That God Built, the High Church cathedral that serves the city of Rhapsody on the holy planet of Andophael. Few people know of its existence; even the architects and laborers who were involved within its construction did not know the purpose for which it was built and were only entrusted with overseeing part of the design or construction. However, many of them soon found themselves unexpectedly promoted into minor positions of authority within the Grand Temple Complex a few short months after their work was done. Conception The Serpens Assassin presented the High Church with a theological quandary. As the implications of the murder of the Emperox were intensely debated, so was the fate of the Assassin who had done the deed. It was clear to all that punishment was required, but many did not know the format that this should take. Many thought that physical punishment was short term, and ineffective. Severe mental punishment could quite easily become torture rather than imprisonment. If any new information ever came to light, prolonged torture risked damaging the mental capacity of the assassin to the point where they may not be able to verify or expand on it. After consultation with many of the branches, the Council of Exarchs turned to the disavowed and extreme Siblings of the Seventh and their long-established practices for a solution. A decision was made that focused on the notion that the Assassin knew what they did was wrong, there was an element of guilt within them, whether they would admit it or not. Otherwise, why would they have handed themselves in? It was decided that the Assassin would, until their time of judgement at the hands of God came, spend their days reflecting upon their actions and thinking about what they had done. Layout The Chamber of The Mirrored Eye is designed to use the art of self-reflection as a tool for exacerbating guilt. Each surface of the room is mirrored, so that wherever the Assassin looks, they see themselves. Where there is not a mirrored surface, there is Cygnus-related paraphernalia and insignia that serves as a constant reminder of their actions. For instance, there is a data slate on the bedside table that is locked on the news report from the day of the assassination and has no other functionality. The roof of the building is metalwork shaped like the outline of an eye. Each day, when the Sun reaches its peak, it forms the iris of the eye, casting light down upon the occupant as if the eye of God themselves is looking down on them. The assassin is left alone in contemplation at all times. Food is served to the assassin via a secure dumb waiter, for instance. Conditions within the room are kept constant; temperatures, for instance, do not reach the usual harsh extremes of the planet. Despite its difficulty and cost of implementation, this helps provides the optimal conditions in which someone can contemplate their actions, and a deliberate choice to enhance the guilt of the occupant. Other aspects, such as the level of comfort of the furnishings of the room, are comparatively luxurious with respect to serfs and poorer nobles. Again, this is a deliberate choice, providing the Assassin with a lifestyle that they surely do not deserve. Category:The High Church of Messiah-as-Emperox Category:House Serpens Category:Serpens Assassin